this is a huge blow to the taliban. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, bianna. good morning to you. one source telling me, a senior official is calling mehsud's death a gift to pakistan. military leaders are calling it one of the biggest victories against an al qaeda ally since the death of osama bin laden. hakimullah mehsud was a pakistani taliban leader. with a $5 million bounty on his head. for years, he eluded capture. now, officials tell abc news, the militant leader has been taken out, killed in a u.s. drone strike. >> he was the man who had the ability to order attacks on u.s. soil. >> reporter: attacks like the foiled bombing in new york's times square in 2010. seen here in a video, speaking out against the use of u.s. drones, alongside the man who is accused of trying to carry out the times square attack. >> let's go. >> reporter: dramatized in the movie, "zero dark thirty" mehsud is credited with overseeing one of the worst attacks on the cia. the 2009 attack in khost, afghanistan, leaving seven cia officials dead. >> since the death of bin laden, this